This is likely a silly question to a lot of you but I'm trying to weigh the pros and cons, no matter how minor, of a conical before I make the jump. I'm maybe too paranoid about oxidation, but one of the main selling points of conical manufacturers is less oxidation. I could actually argue the opposite: With the design of most conicals you're going to introduce oxygen, from the bottom, after you attach a second bulb and open the …

I am building a fermentation fridge based on an STC1000. Clearly if I had a heating side to it I would no doubt be better able to control the temperature; but I am not sure whether the heating element that I'm getting will be in in time for my next brew and I just got to thinking ... do I really need a heating element? My point being that given that in my own circumstance the fridge would be located …

I want to do step mashing in my kitchen by only using a 15Amp 120V outlet. It seems like the most efficient heat transfer from electricity to wort would be directly heating a tube, either stainless or copper. Yes this is a lot like a RIMs, but a flat coil directly laid on an induction hot plate is about as easy a build as you can get, and hopefully would also give very even heating (no scalding). The plan would …

Looking for suggestions on brands of aquarium heaters to use in a fermentation chamber I've built. My set-up is a 60 qt Igloo cooler with a custom foam insulation top cut to allow for a 5 to 6.5 gallon carboy. Fill it up with about 5-6 gallons of water. I have a Johnson Digital Temperature Controller with a thermowell. During the summer I'll use the temp controller to just monitor the temperature and use frozen water bottles floating in the …

I currently mash on a gas hob, turning the hob off when I reach my strike temperature, then insulating my pot the best I can with towels etc.. This is easy to mess up and sometimes I miss my target or lose far too much heat. Ideally there would exist a (preferably affordable) device to regulate the temperature of my pot automatically. Induction hot plates were recommended, and I see that some allow you to set the temperature explicitly. However, …

I am considering to buy a 200 litre pot from stainless steel for brewing. Those with an integrated thermometer are significantly more expensive than those without and I was wondering if the integrated thermometer is worth the money. What is the advantage of an integrated thermometer compared to a conventional rod thermometer? ... well obviously they are integrated and I suppose more convenient but what else? ... are they more accurate or better in any other way? Thanks!

I finally hooked a PowerSwitch Tail II up to my Raspberry Pi and Fermwrap. The RPi has DS18B20 temperature probes directly measuring the temperature of the wort by going down through the airlock. For this particular yeast strain, Northern Brewer recommends its optimal temperature range as 66-74°F (18.9-24.3°C). What I did was subtract 66 from 74 to get 8. I rather arbitrarily chose that the fermwrap should be turned on when the temperature is lower than the bottom 30% of …

Suggested fermentation temperature on the beer kit is ambient temperature or its the temperature reading on fermentation bucket? Also i am not able to keep steady ambient temperature as our flat's heating system is not modern it changes during the day, what effects that will have on my beer? Additional information: Temperature difference between wort and surrounding is generally around 3°C, and ambient temperature of the room also changes around 2°C throughout the day. I made couple of batches in …

I am trying to set up an Sestos D1S temperature controller. Initially, just to see if it works at all, I am trying to use it to control the temperature of my kettle. I've wired it all up correctly so that it can switch the kettle on and off, and the temperature probe is in the kettle. The temperature reading on the front is correct, but the device seems to be impossible to set up. I have tried autotuning, manual …

The title pretty much says it. We know fermenter temperatures can be well above ambient, but which range are the yeast manufacturers referring to?

During sugar priming, how does the temperature influence? In my understanding, higher the temperature, faster the carbonation process. But can this somehow produce some off-flavors on the beer? Too high temperatures can damage the yeasts and prejudice the carbonation? In other words, what is the ideal temperature for carbonation? I am brewing an ale.

I'd like to start regulating the temperature of my beers and meads during fermentation, and have been looking at kits like the Mangrove Jack's Temperature Controller. However, judging by the description it can only be used either in heating or cooling mode not both at the same time. I'm doing my brewing in a garage, which can get quite cold at night (5 degrees) but also quite hot during the day (35 degrees) as the garage door is exposed to …

I am building a fermentation fridge and for the controler I'm looking at brew-pi vs STC 1000. One of the advantages of the brew-pi is that it can handle multiple sensors. I don't understand the point of multiple sensors and I can't find information how they would work together. I can only assume it's to get an average temperature of the beer in the fermenter, or otherwise how are they an advantage. My system will be a single chamber converted …

I've been looking into fermentation temperature control and came across BrewPi. Even though I live in Southern California, I'd like to be able to keep some brews at optimal temperature -- the house does get somewhat cold during the winter. Relatively, at least ;) Can I use the this BrewPi setup with a Fermwrap without a fermentation chamber? I can probably put it into a small room where heat loss will be minimal. I already have a kegerator, so having …

Looking for people who have experience with ceramic heating bulbs - I know these are effective for maintaining primary fermentation temps but I am curious about higher temps. Can you use (or do you have experience using) one of these ceramic heaters to increase temps to as high as 100 degrees fahrenheit (for souring) in a large vessel (chest freezer)?

I'm conscious this is the third question I've asked before I even get started on my first brew, but hey-ho; better to learn from the experience of others and get as close to "right" first time. I am about to start an ale brew and understand the ideal temperature for fermentation to be effective is in the range of 18 degrees centigrade (c. 64F) to 22 degrees centigrade (c. 72F) - maybe even 20-22C. My problem is that where I …

What techniques would you suggest for cooling a lager during the lagering phase? Further, how important is the stability of that temperature?

I need some advice on setting up a stand up 30" refrigerator(freezer on top). I have looked at the different Electronic Temperature Controllers, but, can't seem to decide on what is the best one. If possible recommend a site that would help the process. Thanks

I've just started fermenting my first lager with my recent new temperature control equipment, but am having some problems getting to the correct temperature. I have a chest freezer with a johnson controls analog thermostat. My problem is that I have the thermostat set to 50°F (10°C), but according to a cheap air fridge thermometer I put in there it's 45°F (7°C). Then on top of that the carboy sticker thermometer says it's 52°F (11°C). I can't use a thermowell …

I had an idea for cycling chilled water through something like a small copper wort chiller during fermentation to keep the temperature down. I have no problem setting up the peltier, pump, and thermostat - but I'm uncertain if it's ok to leave the copper in the fermenter with the beer the whole fermentation, or what tubing to use. Thinking about using some soft copper tubing like this: refrigerator copper tubing off ebay Would using copper tubing like this in …